Objective: To measure the real temperatures on the pluggers of three continuous-wave devices, and to provide theoretical reference to evaluate thermal damage and heat's influence on the filling materials.
Methods: The dual channel K type thermocouple was contacted to various sizes' pluggers in three different continuous-wave devices (BeeFill, Elements, B&L), and the highest temperatures at different points (tip, and 2 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm from the tip) of the pluggers (preset temperature was 200 °C) were recorded. The measurements were performed 5 times. T-test was used to compare the real temperatures at the tips with that set on the display and one-way ANOVA was used to compare the temperatures of the pluggers in different devices, sizes and points.
Results: The highest temperature was at the tip of BeeFill 40/0.03 plugger (198.7±7.7) °C, but there was on statistical differences between that and the preset temperature 200 °C. The temperatures of the remaining pluggers were obviously lower than 200 °C (P<0.05). The lowest temperature of the pluggers was detected at 10 mm from the tip of BeeFill 60/0.06 plugger (69.9±4.0) °C. The highest temperature of each plugger was detected at the tip or 2 mm from the tip (112.1 to 198.7 °C,and the median was 140.8 °C).
Conclusion: The real temperature of most continuous-wave pluggers included in this study is below the set temperature 200 °C.